Christmas In Midgar
by otaku9
Summary: It's Christmas in Midgar, and after five years of fighting, everyone can relax and have a wonderful Christmas. Unfortunately, there were those lost, and a Christmas wish might just change all that. Rated for drinking, Cid's cursing,etc. TxC, AxZ, LxC. Characters from all worlds!


Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Just the idea.

Christmas In Midgar

December 24th in, or at least, around Midgar, and the Seventh Heaven bar was being decorated for the Christmas party they were putting together. All of their friends would be there to celebrate the holidays, especially after 4 years of battling Sephiroth and Omega.

Tifa Lockhart, the barkeeper and mother figure to the two kids who inhabited the place, was helping Marlene, adopted daughter of Barrett, former leader of Avalanche. They were putting up a garland vine around the counter.

"Tifa!" Marlene looked up at the older woman, "What do you think?" She unfolded a piece of paper to reveal a white snowflake behind it. "It's lovely, Marlene," Tifa took the snowflake and walked out the door. "We'll put it outside, just like the other snowflakes." Marlene smiled.

Marlene was now a bit taller, up to Tifa's breasts. Her hair, no longer in a braid, now a simple ponytail, still held the same pink hair ribbon.

"Tifa!" Denzel entered the bar. The kid had grown a bit taller, still towering over Marlene. "When's Cloud coming back?" Although it had been 2 years since Cloud had left them, Denzel, although he wouldn't admit it, feared that Cloud would leave them again.

"He'll be back soon," Tifa leaned down to the boy, as if he read his mind.

At Aerith's church, which a lot of the members of AVALANCHE called it because this was where the flower girl would spend a lot of her time at; Cloud was kneeling at the flowers that were still there. They were very interesting, due to the fact that they were the few flowers that grew in Midgar, and even under the main plate, no doubt.

In the center of the flowers, a huge sword, similar to Cloud's Fusion swords, was wedged into the ground.

"Well, Aerith, Zack," Cloud said, kneeling down to the flowers and the sword, "It's Christmas again, and we're really trying to make it special for the kids this year after all that has happened in the past few years." He sighed. "If only you guys could be there. And your mentor, Zack. And even Vincent's friend, Lucrecia." He sighed again. "But I know that's not possible. You're dead, and Lucrecia's trapped in crystal." He stood up, putting his first Fusion sword in the holder hanging from him. "Well, I gotta go. Tifa, Marlene and Denzel are probably waiting for me." And he walked out, the motorcycle echoing through the empty church.

What he never saw, though, were green wavy lines coming out of the flowers and curling around them and the sword.

"Hi, Tifa," Cloud entered to see her behind the counter.

"Hi, honey," Tifa walked over, kissing his cheek. After they defeated Omega, the two realized their love for each other and are now engaged.

"Place looks beautiful, Teefs," He told her, using her nickname.

"Well," Tifa said, "I didn't do it all on my own."

"Cloud's here!" He heard the girl's voice cried out.

"Cloud!" He heard Denzel cry out. The next thing he knew, he felt two small weights hanging onto him.

"Do you love our decorations?" Marlene asked, looking up at Cloud.

"Yeah," He smiled, "It looks lovely." After he beat the Silver-Haired Men and Sephiroth, Cloud had been smiling more and more.

"The guests will be here any minute," Tifa told them all, "So get cleaned up." And she pushed all three of them up the stairs.

"Yes, mother," Cloud said sarcastically, pecking Tifa on the cheek before he was once again pushed up with the kids.

An hour later

The doorbell rang.

"I got it!" Marlene happily ran up to the door, nearly throwing it open in excitement.

But no one was there. "That's odd." Marlene said to herself.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" A voice called out. "On this Christmas Eve, only one person can spread Christmas cheer to all of Midgar! I am known as the protector of happiness and joy, who brings brightness into those who need it *coughCloudcough*, I bring gifts to good children all over the world. I am…"

A black thing broke through the ceiling, landing perfectly on her feet.

"…..Yuffie Claus!" The 20 year old wore a short red dress with white fluff. She also wore a red hat with the white fluff, and big black boots. In her hands were colorful materia.

"And I have brought gifts for all!" And she gave a materia to everyone.

"This…..is nice." Cloud said in awe, surprised that Yuffie would give materia instead of stealing them.

"Thank you!"

The doorbell rang again.

"Merry ******* Christmas!" Cid grinned, smoking a cigarette. Shera stood there, smiling shyly. "I brought some beer!" And he hefted the two six-packs and dropped them onto the counter next to the eggnog and the punch.

"Merry Christmas, Cloud, Tifa, Marlene, Denzel, Yuffie," Shera said, following after Cid.

"What the **** are you wearing?" Cid asked, looking at Yuffie up and down.

"Do you like it?" Yuffie spun around, "I am known as the protector of happiness and joy," she repeated her monologue, "who brings brightness into those who need it, A.K.A Cloud, delivers gifts to all of the good children of the world, I am….Yuffie Claus!"

"Well," Shera said shyly, "I think you look lovely."

"Whatever." Cid scowled, picking up a beer and chugging it down.

The doorbell rang again.

"Cloud," Tifa called as she placed the hot batch of cookies out, "Can you please get the door?" The doorbell rang again, more impatiently this time.

"Alright," Cloud told her, walking to the door. As he opened the door, something big and heavy rammed into him.

"Spiky!" A loud voice yelled out. "It's been a while!" Barrett had caught Cloud in a huge bear hug, knocking the breath out of Cloud, and not allowing any air to get into his lungs. "Have you been treating Marlene well?"

"Y-Yeah." Cloud answered, unable to get more than one syllable out at a time.

"Daddy!" Marlene cried, looking up at the huge man.

"Marlene!" And he lifted the smaller girl up into the air and in his arms, gently this time. "Have they been treating you well?"

Marlene giggled, "Of course, Daddy." Denzel just looked up at the man.

"You okay Cloud?" Tifa asked, standing over the taller blonde.

"I'll let you know when I get my breath back." Cloud told her breathlessly.

Tifa giggled as the doorbell rung again.

"Yo!" The red head stepped in without being invited, looking around at the bar. "Don't you have any mistletoe?" The small blonde girl, Elena, smacked him upside his head.

"Merry Christmas, Tifa," Tseng bowed politely.

"Tsengy!" Yuffie called out, walking up to the older Wutain.

"Wow." Reno smirked at Yuffie's outfit. Elena just slapped him upside his head again.

"Hey," A man in a blue suit asked everyone, "What are we, chopped liver?"

"Of course not, Reeve," Tifa smiled. "Come in."

Reeve stepped in, followed by a small black and white cat with a red cape and a crown on top of his head.

"Merry Christmas!" Cait Sith yelled out. He held out a green wreath. "For your door." He explained.

"Cait!" Marlene happily picked up the robotic cat, cuddling him in her arms.

"Merry Christmas." Red XIII smiled, followed by his little pups and another of his species, which was obviously his wife.

"Red!" And the two children happily hugged him, his wife, and his puppies. Normally, he would not have allowed this to happen. But, since it was Christmas, he let it slide.

"Your home looks lovely." Tifa turned away from the punch bowl to see Rufus Shinra standing right there, no longer in a wheelchair or covered by a cloak like he had three years ago when he was affected by the Geostigma.

"Thanks, Rufus," Tifa said flatly, still not trusting the man.

Rufus sighed, then, as if he read her mind, he said, "Listen, I know I've done a lot of bad things in my past. I nearly destroyed the Planet, I destroyed the Sector 7 plate and killed a lot of families, especially Denzel's over there." He pointed to the boy, who was having his palm read by Cait Sith. "And I'm not asking you to forgive me. I just came here to celebrate Christmas." And he walked over to get a drink of eggnog.

The doorbell rang again. "I really need a break." Tifa sighed as leaned back against the counter and looked up at the ceiling fan.

"It is so quiet." Yuffie complained, skipping over to the radio and switching to a Christmas station.

Playing was "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey.

_"I don't want a lot for Christmas,_

_ There is just one thing I need"_

In the doorway, Vincent stood there, wearing his normal red cloak. The only thing that was different about him was the fact that instead of his red bandana, he was wearing a red Santa hat like Yuffie.

"Vinny!" Yuffie cheered, pointing to her hat, then to his. Vincent, understanding what Yuffie was trying to say, sighed and sadly shook his head. Then, he heard the music that was playing.

"Is this 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' by Mariah Carey?"

"Yeah!" And Vincent joined the singing.

_"I just want you for my own,_

_ More than you could ever know_

_ Make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas….is you"_

As those two were singing, Vincent being off-key, Cid was calling for attention by the counter.

"Alright!" Cid said, his voice slurring as he talked, "We are now going to begin our drinking contest." Surrounding the counter were Reno, Rufus, and Reeve. "Here are the rules. Rule number one: We drink the hard stuff. None of that sissy stuff. Rule number two: No drinking eggnog, unless you put a whole bunch of alcohol in it. Rule number three: Don't stop, unless you pass out. Rule number four: Yeah, that's all I got! Begin!"

"Ah ha! I win again!" Cait Sith yelled out, dropping his cards on the ground.

"I'm done!" Denzel yelled out, annoyed that he once again got beaten by the robotic cat.

"Well what do you want to do?" Marlene asked, drawing a picture with Barrett while Red played with his cubs.

"Why don't we play hide-and-seek?" Denzel suggested.

"Yeah!" Marlene agreed, jumping up from her spot on the floor.

The pups popped up at the sound of this game and barked at their dad, as if begging him to let them play. Red barked back, a simple bark, as if he said yes.

"Play with us too, Daddy!" She pulled him up.

"Of course I will, Marlene!" Barrett smiled.

"Alright! You go over there," She shoved him to the wall, "And we'll go hide!"

"Alright." Barrett agreed, covering his eyes.

"No peeking!" She told him. And the two kids, Red's cubs, and Cait Sith all ran off to find hiding spots.

Tifa and Cloud, meanwhile, were dancing to "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby.

_"I'm….. dreaming…of a white….Christmas_

_ Just like the ones I used to know."_

Yuffie and Vincent continued to sing, happy as they could be.

"This is nice," Tifa sighed, placing her head on Cloud's chest.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed, looking around at the friends he had fought with over the years. As they moved in rhythm to the song, Cloud looked at the ceiling above them. "You know," Cloud told his fiancee, "Maybe Reno was right. Maybe we do need a mistletoe."

Tifa lifted her head from Cloud's chest, looking at him in confusion. "Why's that?"

"So I can do this." And Cloud leaned down as Tifa reached up to meet Cloud's lips.

The doorbell rang again.

This jolted the two out of their romantic moment and time seem to froze.

Cid, who had a can of beer halfway to his mouth suddenly stopped. Reno, who was starting to fall, managed to pick himself up. Reeve, who was speaking drunkenly into a little handheld device stopped suddenly. Red XIII's head popped up and his wife looked at him.

"Who could that be?" Tifa asked, breaking the silence, "Everyone is here."

"Wait right here." Cloud told her, backing her away from her. He walked over to the corner and picked up one of the smaller Fusion swords. With the sword, Cloud walked to the door. Holding the sword high in the air, he slowly opened the door. As he was about to strike, a voice cried out.

"Whoa! Hey! Take it easy with the sword!" Cloud stopped.

In the doorway, a tall man with black spiky hair and glowing blue eyes stood in front of Cloud. An x shaped scar was on his left cheek and a strand of black hair hung in front of his face.

"Zack." Cloud said, looking up and down at his friend. _But, this was impossible. I saw him-_"Yeah, Spiky!" Zack smiled. "But, seriously," He pretended to be angry, "We haven't seen each other in years and you try to kill me!"

Cloud put the sword down. "But how-

"When you made your wish," Zack explained, "about us all being together, the Lifestream brought us back to life."

"We?" Cloud asked.

"That's right, Cloud." He knew that voice, heard it several times. Standing right behind Zack, a girl with long brown hair pulled into a braid by a pink hair ribbon, similar to Marlene's. She wore a long pink dress, a red jacket, and big black boots. Her eyes were a bright green that showed kindness and compassion.

"Aerith." Cloud said in awe. _She still looks beautiful._

"Merry Christmas." She held out a bright pink box. "I knew it's early," she blushed, "But, here." And she handed it to Cloud.

"Aerith!" Yuffie cried out, waving happily at the older woman.

"Yuffie," she smiled, "It's been a while." And they hugged. "You've grown so much." She patted Yuffie's arms.

"In height she has." Vincent muttered, which got a glare, and possibly something we'll be missing from him by the end of the night.

"Aerith," Tifa hugged her best friend. Aerith caught a glance at a shiny ring glinting on Tifa's ring finger.

"He proposed?" Aerith asked, the two girls both knew who they were talking about.

"Yes." Tifa answered.

Aerith turned to him. "About time." And the four laughed.

Just then, more music began to play. "Run Rudolph Run" by Bryan Adams was playing on the radio.

"Oh!" Aerith exclaimed. "I love this song!"

"Me too!" Tifa agreed and Aerith began to dance with Zack while Tifa just danced with herself

"Merry Christmas." A deeper voice said. Cloud looked up to see a man with long black hair slicked back and glowing blue eyes. He wore a black uniform, same as Zack. On his back, lay a standard SOLDIER sword. He looked like he could be Zack's father. "You don't know me," he continued, "But Zack has told me all about you. Never shuts up."

"Angeal!" Zack cried out happily, waving his arm high up in the air. The man he called Angeal sighed and shook his head.

"You never change, puppy." He told him, walking over to him.

"Whoa!" Barrett exclaimed, holding Denzel and Marlene's hands, looking at Zack. "It's like Spiky Two!"

"Spiky Two?" Zack repeated in horror, his hands to his head. Angeal and Aerith just chuckled at Barrett's comment.

"Hahaha!" The three drunken men laughed as well.

The doorbell rang again.

"Cloud, could you go get it?" Tifa asked, carrying the two children up to their room.

"No way." Cloud said. "I had one scare tonight, I don't need another."

"I'll get it!" Yuffie cried out, interrupting her sing-along with Vincent. She skipped up to the door and threw it open. "Who the hell are you!?"

"Well," The man in the doorway sighed, "That's a way to greet someone on Christmas." The man, like Zack and Angeal, was tall, he had glowing blue eyes like them, but he wore a long red coat and bright red hair.

"Genesis." Angeal and Zack both said, glaring at the man. Cloud briefly remembered the red haired man that the whole Shinra Company was searching for. And now he was here, In the Seventh Heaven.

"I told you, _even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return_. And, I brought my plus two."

"Don't you mean plus one?" Rude asked him, confused.

"No," Genesis said calmly, "I said plus two. Come on in, brothers." He called behind him.

Cloud, Zack, and Angeal looked at each other in confusion. _Brothers?_

Stepping in the room as well were…..

"Weiss. Nero." Vincent growled.

"Relax, Vincent," Weiss turned to the immortal man, "It's Christmas."

Nero just nodded.

"Hey!" Cid cried drunkenly to Genesis, "Wanna join our drinking contest?"

"Well," Genesis said modestly, "You guys are obviously way ahead of me, but I'll give it a shot." And he walked over to the three drunks.

"Rules are hard stuff only, only drink eggnog with alcohol, and don't stop until you pass out."

"Like Reeve over here." Reno pointed to the slumped Reeve, half a glass of alcohol dangling in his hand.

"Ready? Begin!" And Genesis and the two drunks resumed drinking half of Tifa's inventory.

"We got you a gift." Weiss walked over to Cloud. In his hand, lay a little green plant with bright red berries decorated around it.

"It's a mistletoe." Nero simply told him as Weiss put the gift into Cloud's hand.

Cloud looked for Tifa. _How did he know? _Cloud asked in a telepathic way. Tifa just shrugged back in confusion.

As Cloud began to close the door, a hand reached out and stopped its path.

"Greetings," a young girl stepped inside. The girl had brown wavy hair and brown eyes. She wore a black suit like all of the other Turks. "You probably don't remember me, Cloud, but I was a friend of Zack's."

"Cissnei!" Zack cried out, waving happily to the girl.

"Hey, Rude, it's Cissnei." Reno stumbled over to the bald man. "You remember, right?"

"Well," Cissnei leaned over, looking past Cloud to look at the drunken red head, "I must say, it's been a while, Reno." She looked back at Cloud and handed him a wreath. "Green stands for eternal life." She winked and walked off to talk with the Turks.

"Cloud Strife." A monotonous voice interrupted Cloud's thoughts. He looked down to see a small girl with red spiky hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a red sweater and black pants. Behind her, a much taller girl with long red hair the same as the first and the same eye color was smiling at Cloud. She wore a red party dress and red high heels. Cloud could see her metal arm and one of the second girl's eyes was closed.

"Shelke." He looked at the first girl. "Shalua." He looked up at the second girl. "It's great to see you too."

Shelke smiled. "Thank you." And the two girls walked in.

"Shelke!" Yuffie stopped singing there and embraced the smaller girl. "How are you?"

"Great." Shelke told her. "Sis and I also brought someone."

"Who?" Everyone asked, surprised by yet another addition. The two girls stepped aside to reveal older woman, with long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail by a yellow fabric. She wore a long white dress and no shoes.

"Lucrecia," Vincent whispered, looking at the woman that the sisters had brought.

"Vincent." She smiled, happily running to embrace the older man. "I'm so sorry." He knew what she meant; she meant he was sorry for turning him into what he was.

"No," Vincent told her, "I'm the one who should be sorry. I should have stopped you. I was afraid, I guess." And they just held each other closer.

Everyone awed at this cute scene.

"Here," she put a couple of boxes in the corner with the other presents. "I brought some gifts. It was last minute, since I just woke up from the crystal, and I don't really know what you guys like, but I hope you like them."

Zack, who was over by Reno, gave the younger man a glance and an evil smile. Reno did the same back.

Unseen by the others, the two snuck off.

"Man!" Cid said in drunken awe at Genesis. "You're good!" Genesis, albeit a bit tipsy, was nothing compared to Cid, Reno, and Reeve, who was still passed out and would have a huge headache when he woke up.

"What's this song?" Shelke asked Yuffie and Aerith.

"You mean you never heard 'The Chipmunk Song'?" Yuffie gasped. Shelke shook her head.

"Well," Aerith explained, "It's like this."

_"Christmas, Christmas time is here,_

_ Time for toys and time for cheer."_

"Oh! My turn!" Yuffie exclaimed.

_"We've been good, but we can't last,_

_ Hurry Christmas hurry fast."_

_ "Want a plane that loops the loop."_

Barrett joined in, his voice off-key.

_"Me, I want a hula hoop."_

Cait Sith was wiggling his hips, a red hula hoop around his waist.

"Where did you get that?" Tifa asked in confusion.

"I-I got it from a catalogue." Cait Sith stuttered, the hoop dropping from his waist.

"Where. Did. You get. The hoop?" Tifa leaned over the robotic cat, her face all mad.

"O-over there." Cait Sith pointed to the corner. Over there, Reno and Zack were shaking up the presents there.

"Zack!" Cloud yelled. "Reno!" Tseng yelled. "Don't do that!" They both said at the same time.

"Aw come on," Zack pouted, his old puppy-dog face showing, "Just one."

"Yeah, Tseng," Reno agreed, "It's Christmas."

"No." Tifa agreed. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow." And the two boys pouted and walked away from the presents.

"Now," Tifa told Cloud, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and stop them from drinking half my inventory." And she walked off to the counter.

The doorbell rang again.

"Who else could it be?" Cloud wondered, looking at all of the guests.

Angeal and Genesis were laughing it up as Genesis drunk his 15th glass of alcohol.

Yuffie, Aerith, Shalua, and Shelke were singing to the music.

Zack and Reno continued to pout as Reno angrily drunk some more beer.

Vincent and Lucrecia were dancing to the music.

The other Turks were dancing as well. Even Rufus was dancing as well. Cissnei was dancing too.

Cait Sith and Red were playing with each other like they were cubs.

Weiss and Nero were laughing and having a great time.

_They're all here, except…._Cloud realized who was coming next

Cloud quickly ran to the door and slammed his body against it, pushing his weight onto the door.

"What's wrong, Cloud?" Zack asked, his pout gone.

"Yeah," Tifa said, "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing." Cloud lied, not wanting to worry anyone on Christmas. Then, a pounding was heard, the door trying to push Cloud off.

"Hey! Open up!" A familiar voice yelled out. The voice sounded as high and insane as it was three years ago.

Cloud just pushed his weight further on the door.

"Don't make me do something drastic, Cloud!" The voice yelled again.

"Might I make a suggestion?" Another calm voice asked. There was whispering, and slowly, the voices started to fade away.

Cloud relaxed against the door, sighing with relief.

Just then, thumping and crashing sounds came from the fireplace.

"What's going on?" Tifa asked.

"Santa!" Marlene and Denzel flew down the stairs, apparently woken up by the sounds from the chimney.

As the two ran to the fireplace, a huge thump and a big black puff of smoke entered the Seventh Heaven.

"Santa!" The kids exclaimed.

But it wasn't Santa.

Standing there, tall, with short silver hair and bright green eyes was….

"Kadaj." Cloud growled, running over to pull his sword.

"Relax, brother," Kadaj smiled, "We are not here to hurt you. We are here to." And then, something else landed on Kadaj.

This person looked like Kadaj, only with longer hair.

"Yazoo." Reno growled, starting to sober up a bit.

Before Yazoo could say anything though, someone else landed on _him_.

This person looked like Kadaj and Yazoo, only bigger, with short silver hair spiked up.

"Loz." Tifa growled, pulling on her fighting gloves.

"Easy there, toots," Loz smiled evilly, "We are not here to hurt any of you."

"Yeah," Kadaj said as he was slowly getting up. "As I was just saying, we are here to celebrate Christmas with all of you."

Everyone just glared at the three boys.

"Why should we trust you?" Cloud demanded, thinking of that time three years ago, when the three boys planned the Reunion with their "mother" Jenova and brought Sephiroth back.

"Guys, wait." Aerith stepped from Cloud and the others and up to the boys. "It's Christmas."

Tifa and Cloud looked at each other, the boys, and at Aerith.

Tifa sighed and Cloud put away his sword. "Aerith's right," Tifa said, "It is Christmas." And the three boys stepped in.

"Please," Tifa told them, "Help yourself to the refreshments."

"Hey!" Cid called to Loz. "You seem to be a pretty big boy. Why don't you join in our" And then, the man suddenly fell over, passed out, same with Reno.

"Hahaha, suckers." Genesis smirked. This was all part of his plan. Since he had SOLDIER metabolism, he could hold his liquor better than anyone. His plan was to keep drinking until Cid and Reno, who desperately tried to keep up, passed out.

"You are something else." Angeal sighed and shook his head.

"Well," Tseng said, "We should probably put Reno somewhere to sleep." He looked at Tifa. "Do you mind?"

"Yeah." Tifa replied. She then looked back at Marlene and Denzel. "And you two need to go to sleep, or Santa won't come." And she pushed the two kids up the stairs back to bed.

"Typical Cid." Shera sighed as she lugged her husband up the stairs.

"Great job, brother." Weiss and Nero walked over to their brother, who was basking in the attention.

Just then, "Last Christmas" by Cascada was playing.

"Oh! I love this song!" Aerith and Lucrecia squealed as they dragged their partners over to the radio to dance.

When hearing this song, everyone gathered to dance; Shelke, Shalua, Kadaj, Yazoo, Loz, Shera, Tseng, Elena, Cissnei, Rude, Rufus, Genesis, Weiss, Nero, Red XIII, his wife, Cait Sith, and Barrett.

Cloud suddenly took Tifa's hand and took her to the far corner of the room.

"Cloud," Tifa was shocked. "What are you doing?"

Cloud just pointed up to the ceiling. Tifa looked up. Hanging above their heads was a mistletoe.

"Merry Christmas, Tifa." Cloud whispered, his lips reaching to touch hers.

Merry Christmas, Cloud." She repeated.

_End._

_ I hope you like it and you'll notice all the references and things._

_ I was going to put Sephiroth in, but it didn't feel right._

_ Anyway, Merry Christmas and if you guys have any more Final Fantasy Christmas fic ideas, please let me know._

_Also, please review and tell me what you think._


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